Greenfield train platform to go out to bid in project that will return Amtrak service to city

05.04.2012 | GREENFIELD -- The John W. Olver Transit Center in Greenfield. The center is up and running, and next stop: a train platform at the facility for passenger rail users.
(Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The Republican [file])

GREENFIELD — The John W. Olver Transit Center is up and running. Next stop: a train platform at the facility for passenger rail users.

When the $15.1 million transportation center was dedicated in 2012, the buses were ready to roll in and out of its parking lot, but commuters could only stare longingly at the railroad tracks behind it. At that time there were still some 20,000 rail ties to be replaced before Amtrack could resume passenger service along a line that hadn’t been used for that purpose since the 1980s.

Thanks to a $75 million federal grant, that project has been progressing steadily, and rail service is expected to resume this year or next, giving that option to travelers in Greenfield, Northampton and Holyoke for the first time in decades. For Northampton, it will be a boon for those going to Vermont in the north and to New York and other points south. For Greenfield, the benefit could be even greater, delivering people fast and comfortably within a block from the city’s center.

With so much on the line, details like the design of the platform take on enhanced importance. Officials are hoping the one submitted by Kevin Benjamin, of Stull and Lee, Inc., a Boston architectural firm, will attract passenger rail users and keep them comfortable while they are waiting for their train. The main feature on the 200-foot-long platform will be an 80-foot canopy equipped with heaters to keep commuters warm in the winter. Although it is open-sided, the handicapped-accessible platform will also protect passenger rail customers from the elements, Benjamin said.

The state projects to cost of the platform at $2 million, but officials expect that price to go down when the bids start coming in. Michael Verseckes, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, is hoping his office can cut costs on a range of items, from fuel to materials to labor.

For those traveling locally, the new rail line will offer a quick hook-up with Northampton, Springfield and Holyoke, especially since the new route will eliminate the loop east through Palmer and Amherst.

“It will take 25 minutes off that trip,” Verseckes said.

Benjamin expects work on the project to begin in the spring and be completed sometime this fall.